Berdych silences Balkans at Oz Open

Tennis / 17 January 2014, 08:57am

Reuters

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 17: Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic serves in his third round match against Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina during day five of the 2014 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 17, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Melbourne – Seventh seed Tomas Berdych silenced a boisterous crowd on Hisense Arena as the Czech comfortably advanced to the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory over Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur on Friday.

The 21-year-old Dzumhur has enjoyed vocal support from Melbourne's large expatriate Balkan population in his progress throughout the tournament from qualifying.

Dzumuhur beat Croatia's Ivan Dodig in the second round in a noisy encounter on Wednesday and had been seeking to be the first qualifier to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open since Canada's Milos Raonic in 2011.

Berdych, however, was simply too strong for the youngster and gave him nothing to capitalise on, ruthlessly snuffing out his two break point opportunities to advance to a fourth round against either South Africa's Kevin Anderson or Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France. – Reuters